Resource: Department of Environmental Conservation Website
Source: Agency of Natural Resources
The Vermont Rivers Program is responsible for protecting and restoring natural river and floodplain processes to enhance water quality, ecological health, and flood resilience. River resource protection is achieved through a combination of permitting, regulatory/non-regulatory technical assistance, assessment, planning, education, and outreach.
Resource Type: Website & Video
Source: Floodplains by Design
Floodplains by Design works to reduce flood risk, restore habitat, improve water quality, support agriculture, and enhance recreation along Washington’s rivers. By transforming how floodplains are managed on a landscape scale, Floodplains by Design supports thriving communities and a healthy environment. The heart of this approach is the idea that the most complex problems are solved by helping people work together. Trust is built through structured conversations that give voice to the values of each interest group and coordinate investments toward local solutions.
Resource: Example Flood Protection Plan
Source: California Department of Water Resources
The Central Valley Flood Protection Plan (CVFPP) is California’s strategic blueprint to improve flood risk management in the Central Valley. Prepared by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) in accordance with the Central Valley Flood Protection Act of 2008 (Act) and adopted by the Central Valley Flood Protection Board (CVFPB) in June 2012, the CVFPP guides the State’s participation in managing flood risk in areas protected by the State Plan of Flood Control (SPFC). The CVFPP is updated every 5 years in accordance with the Act. The plan lays out strategies to:
- Prioritize the State’s investment in flood management over a 30-year planning horizon
- Promote multi-benefit projects
- Integrate and improve ecosystem functions associated with flood-risk-reduction projects
Resource: Report
Source: Natural Floodplains Alliance
The Natural Floodplains Alliance and the Wetland Mapping Consortium (WMC) developed and hosted a series of workshops focused on identifying barriers and opportunities for formulating a new national strategy that would enable greater protection and restoration of
floodplains, including the wetlands within them, and the beneficial functions they provide. This report compiles the findings of these workshops and provides an action plan to protect and restore wetland
and floodplain functions in the United States.
The NFFA is an affiliation of nonprofit and private organizations, government agencies, and individuals working to promote and encourage activities at all levels of government that protect and restore the natural resources and functions of floodplains.
The WMC is an interdisciplinary group of wetland scientists and managers interested in mapping and monitoring wetlands with remotely sensed images and using the resulting products to best manage wetland resources, ultimately resulting in increased conservation of wetlands and the enhanced delivery of wetland ecosystem services.
Resource: Article
Source: American Rivers
Small, regular floods that inundate riverside floodplains are essential to a river’s health and provide a wide variety of benefits to wildlife, fish, and people.
When we manage rivers wisely, we can keep communities safe and enjoy all of the benefits healthy rivers provide.
Restoring floodplains to give rivers more room to accommodate large floods is the best way to keep communities safe. Giving rivers more room provides a number of other benefits, including clean water; open space for agriculture, recreation and trails, and habitat for fish and wildlife.
Resource Type: Video
Source: The Nature Conservancy
Healthy floodplains can help increase flood protection, recharge aquifers, and improve wildlife habitat. This animated feature illustrates how we can harness these rich ecosystems to benefit both people and wildlife.
Resource: Nature-Based Solutions Guide
Source: Naturally Resilient Communities
Nature offers a powerful set of tools for addressing hazards like flooding and erosion. Nature-based solutions use natural systems, mimic natural processes, or work in tandem with traditional approaches to address these specific hazards. Communities across the globe— along rivers or coasts, large or small, rural or urban— can incorporate nature-based solutions in local planning, zoning, regulations, and built projects to help reduce their exposure to flood and erosion impacts.
Resource Type: Video
Source: Propublica
Levees — massive earthen or concrete structures that keep rivers confined to their channels — tame the flow of rivers and make life possible for the millions of people who live behind them. But they come with often-unexamined risks, as they can make floods worse for the communities across the river or upstream from them.
This is well-known to scientists and supported by basic physics, but we wanted to see it for ourselves. So, instead of waiting for a huge flood, we built our own.
ProPublica and Reveal from The Center for Investigative Reporting hired engineers at the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis to build a physical model of four levee scenarios to see how levee height and placement choices can put surrounding communities on the floodplain — the low-lying land near river channels — at greater risk of flooding.
Resource: Report
Source: American Rivers
Floodplains are an integral part of healthy rivers, and floods are a natural occurrence on rivers. Natural floodplains provide many benefits to people and nature. They provide clean water supplies, recreation opportunities, habitat for fish and wildlife, and, when left undeveloped, they safely convey flood water.
Unfortunately, across the United States, floodplains have been disconnected from rivers and modified on a massive scale, resulting in a loss of floodplain benefits. But floodplains and their benefits to people and nature can be restored by getting water on the floodplain at the right time, in the right amount, and for the right duration to support natural floodplain habitats.
Resource: Article
Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts
Almost three-quarters of registered voters—across party lines—support policies that would enable communities to better prepare for and respond to floods, according to a nationwide survey.
The poll, conducted by the research firm Public Opinion Strategies for The Pew Charitable Trusts, examined attitudes toward flood-related disasters and proposed policy reforms aimed at improving preparedness and reducing recovery costs. Specifically, participants were asked about the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides federally backed coverage for homeowners and small businesses in more than 22,000 U.S. communities and is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The flood insurance program is nearly $25 billion in debt. Respondents overwhelmingly support proposals to require that property sellers disclose flood risk and that communities take steps to lessen flood impacts and thus reduce the costs of rebuilding.
Resource: Storymap
Source: American Rivers
The Central Valley is highly vulnerable to flooding. The current levee-based flood management system provides insufficient flood protection and has caused significant harm to wetland and floodplain habitats that once spanned this 300-mile-long corridor. The Central Valley’s rigid and aging flood management system puts urban and agricultural areas at risk, degrades water quality, restricts recreational access, limits groundwater recharge, and eliminates habitat for fish and wildlife.
Resource: Community of Practice
Source: National Association of Wetland Managers
The Natural Floodplains Alliance is an affiliation of almost 3,000 nonprofit and private organizations, government agencies, and individuals dedicated to the protection and preservation of the natural functions of floodplains, including coastal areas.